When the Protector Becomes The Protectee
by sudoku
Summary: Or six times Doctor Stephen Strange was there for the original Avengers and the one time they were there for him.


-Unbetaed and non native speaker so please kindly point out any mistakes  
-Warning: language, bad attempt at consoling someone

* * *

Stephen was in the middle of meditating when the door bell rang. The Cloak unceremoniously dropped him from his levitating position and left for, he presumed, the door.

She liked to open the door, which he suspected to give people frights, but was wise enough not to open it until Stephen said it was OK. Sometime—well, most of the time if he cared to admit—the Cloak was more intuitive than him and knew whether the people at the other side meant any harm. If that was the case, she would change her role into a flying cobra.

He sighed, opened his eyes, and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 1.26 am. It was unusual time for a guest to visit. He presumed it must be a guest because his enemies usually just crashed his Sanctum…unless his enemy pretended to be a guest because they couldn't use brute force to enter or they mind controlled someone he knew who would betray him as soon as he them in.

_Get a grip, Stephen. You're being paranoid._

He closed his eyes again and concentrated on the door to get a read on the mind on the other side. He was surprised to find the answer.

Sensing who was on the other side, the Cloak actually flew back to his shoulders and levitated him to the foyer. Stephen smirked as he telekinetically opened the door and let Tony who had been leaning forward stumbled through the door. He quickly teleported to the engineer's side and steadied him before he hurt himself. _He might be an asshole but he wasn't that mean._

Tony let go from his grips, went to walk to the staircase, and sat at the bottom step. "You prick, you could just open the door like a normal people."

Stephen raised his left eyebrow as the Cloak lifted him then dropped him three feet around the billionaire. "You should know you don't deal with normal once you drop by here." He looked at the engineer closely. He was dressed in a smart dark blue suit which must cost twice his paycheck back when he was a top neurosurgeon. He used to miss being rich but not anymore, well not so much anymore, he still needed to eat and his new job didn't have the perk of free lunch. He noticed the dark circle surrounding the billionaire eyes and the tremors in his hands. Stark must have been drinking. "Why do you come here?"

"Is that how you treat all your guest? No wonder nobody wants to visit you unless they want their house exorcised." He looked up and down the sorcerer. "Why are you still dressed in your robes? Do you actually own pajamas to sleep in?"

"No, only the one who rang the bell at two in the morning. I was meditating. Thanks for the interruption. And yes, I have a few pajamas. One even had the picture of Cap. No, before you ask, I don't own any Iron Man merchandise."

Tony stretched out his legs and let his toes pointed upward. "I'm truly insulted. I thought you'd better taste than that."

"Stark, what do you want? If you just come here to insult me, you can do it tomorrow morning. Or via Twitter like the way you destroyed that reviewer who hated Parasite because it was un-American and Americans shouldn't suffer from reading subtitles as it was the greatest country in the world. You made that guy rage quit Twitter and all other social media."

Tony flashed a lopsided grin. "I haven't so much fun in a while. I knew I liked you for a reason. You even followed my Twitter activity. Why would I insult you on Twitter when it was more fun to do it right in your face to see your expression? Do you know that you have very pretty and expressive eyes, right? People can get drowned looking at them. Not to mention the baritone voice, the cheekbones, the cupid lips. I think you're just being too struck up, otherwise girls, hey perhaps even guys as I am not judgy about this kind of thing, would queue up to date you."

Stephen sighed and sat two steps above Tony because, unlike some people, he had longer legs. "Now you just compliment me or flirt with me. I'm not sure as I'm too tired. What do you want?"

"Can't a facial hair bro just come to visit another facial bro for a chat? Or perhaps cheeseburgers?" He promptly produced two cheeseburgers from the pockets of his suit.

Stephen crinkled his nose. _What a waste for an exorbitantly expensive suit_. "If you think I'll willingly put that into my stomach, you don't know me at all."

Tony shrugged. "Your loss." He opened the wrapping of his burger and started to chew on it.

Stephen could notice a cry for help when he saw one. He guessed Tony was at a loss but too proud to ask for help. Apparently, he thought Stephen was that kind of doctor. He _knew_ that Tony _knew _very well that he was a neurosurgeon. Somehow people often mistakenly assumed that a doctor could also be a psychologist. Or perhaps Tony just wanted to talk, except he didn't actually _talk_.

He sighed. He could try to read his mind properly this time but it was too invasive. He hated to probe what Tony wanted but in this instance that was what was needed

"Do you have trouble sleeping lately?"

"No shit, Sherlock. What gave it away, the dark circles? The unkempt beard?"

Stephen was slightly taken aback by the last one. He thought Tony's beard was perfect. He shook his head before he started to wax poetry about Tony's appearance. "If you want sleeping pills, you could just get them from any pharmacy. Or even in your own Avengers Tower. Do you want me to hep you sleep using magic? I can do that and we, well you, can all go home."

"If you think I'll let magic touch me willingly, you don't know me at all."

Stephen shrugged. He knew it was unlikely but it was worth a try. "If you think I'll play a psychologist for you, you can say hello to the free-falling dimension."

"Pfft, empty threat. Don't promise something you won't deliver. Who was in the right mind wanted you to be their psychologist anyway? Your bedside manner was atrocious. I just want to talk."

"Then talk."

Tony looked like a deer caught into the headlights. It took a moment for him to get his equilibrium. "I just walk into that one, don't I?" He chewed his lower lip and put his hands which were already free of the two burgers under his chin. "I fear for the future."

"We all are. We don't know what's going to happen which itself could be a gift or a curse. Unless of course if we had the Time Stone."

There was no Time Stone, or other Infinity Stones anymore. Stephen, the Masters of Mystic Arts, and the Avengers made sure of that.

"What?! Of yes, I nearly forgot you had the green stone. I meant not like other people who worry about the future. I'm really worried that everything has gone so well right now for me. Pepper, Morgan, Peter, Rhodey, Happy. What if the next big bad comes in and takes it all away again? I don't imagine I could ever live in world where I lose Morgan. It was like losing Peter all over again but a million times worse." He hid his face under his hands now.

Stephen was not sure what to say yet. He just put a hand on Tony's shoulder and grip it softly. He didn't release the grip.

"I had fear of more alien invasion since the Chitauri attack. That was the reason I created Ultron to protect Earth from more threats without the loss of human lives. But I ended up killing all those poor Sokovians. I know, I know, it was not me killing them directly, but I should've learned from the Terminator franchise that sentient robot was never a good thing. Thor and Steve tried to stop me but I was too prideful to listen to them." He exhaled slowly and put his head between his legs now. Stephen lowered his hand but still put on his shoulder. "Then there was that damn Accord. I thought having regulation could reduce the risk of deaths by superhumans. But Ross and some other parties wanted to use that to control superhumans. I just sort of agreed with them after Lagos. If I didn't do that, the Avengers would still be around when Squidward came and…" Unsure how to phrase it properly, he looked up at Stephen.

Stephen felt his cheek got warmer. "Kidnapped me and set through the whole Thanos' debacle." It was not his proudest moment. "I should've been more prepared."

"You literally just heard about Thanos around one hour before… before they attacked you. If you put that Stone away, Squidward would still hunt you down because he knew you had it. I was being too harsh on you. I, on the other hand, had the knowledge about this for six years but I was still not prepared and even worse, too damn proud to ask for Cap's help."

"Well, it worked out OK in the end." Stephen couldn't help but started to remember his own guilt for some of those victims who died because their lives relied on those people who got Snapped like the passengers of the bus whose driver suddenly got turned to dust. He swallowed thickly. It was not about him, especially not this time.

Tony snorted. "At what cost? Will all those lives lost? And some people lose five years of their lives. Families are broken because they thought their other half had died. Even _you_ lost five years of your live."

"Tony, it's all over. Well, it's better than the alternatives where everyone in the universe die. I know it's not a great solution but it's the best I could come up with."

Tony took Stephen's hand that had been put on his shoulders and squeezed it lightly. "You, out of all people, would understand it. You're not worried about the future like me, you went into those futures, lived or died through them, and found the best out of all shitty outcomes. Here, I've been whining the whole time but I forgot about your burden."

Stephen squeezed Tony's hand a little before withdrawing it into his own lap. The tremor was more prominent this time. He forced himself to smile. "That's OK. It was not me who dropped by into your house at 2 am asking to talk."

Tony stared at him for a while, found what he looked for, nodded, and continued, "So we barely won our battle with Thanos. But what if the next big bad comes. Unlike Thanos which I had very vague clue about, we don't know what the next big thing that's going to hit us. I try to talk to the other Avengers but they say whatever comes next, we'll face it together. They're not too worried about the future, unlike me. They never look into the future."

Stephen got the unspoken sentiment that Tony sought Stephen out because he felt the doctor was his comrade in the fight against invisible future threats. Nobody had glimpsed through the future like Stephen so he, out of all people, would understand. Of course he did understand.

"Tony, I know it's very cliché but how about living in the present moment. There is a saying in Tibet: If a problem can be solved there is no use **worrying** about it. If it can't be solved, **worrying** will do no good."

"Seven Years in Tibet?"

"Yes." He shrugged. "I've always liked Brad Pitt. Do you know that the Dalai Lama has a Twitter account? It will do you some good to read some of his tweets rather than those of the douchebag film reviewers."

"Is that the best advice you could offer?"

Stephen grinned. "I hated to admit it but I think I might not be the wisest person you could consult. If you think I'm wiser than the Dalai Lama, there's something really wrong with you."

"Do you want me to go to His Holiness and talk about my fears of future threats?"

Stephen was horrified about the headlines that could come up with Tony's visit. He knew Tony wouldn't care but he couldn't possibly let Tony loose on anyone unprepared. Not that the Dalai Lama wasn't prepared with the likes of Tony. He just wouldn't want Tony disturbing someone important.

"No, no. You could just talk to me although I prefer not at midnight."

"It's not like you were sleeping anyway. Are you having insomnia as well?"

Stephen huffed. Tony was right but he didn't want to admit it. It was not like Tony could wipe his photographic memory about each horrible thing he had gone through. "Well, it's not about me. If you know what to do about possible threats, then just do some preparations. Hopefully with less sentient robots and government regulations. You can always discuss with the Avengers…" That earned a snort from Tony. "…with me. Preferably with appointments preferably because I'm often not in this dimension. We can brainstorm together and I'll gladly tell you if your ideas suck. But if we don't know about the threats, worrying about them would only harm our own wellbeing and we become less prepared when the actual threats actually come. So not sleeping makes you weaker and you won't be in your 200% when you face Thanos-wannabe."

"I hate to admit it but when you put it like that, it all makes sense. We need to take care of ourselves to be prepared. I mean it still hasn't solved my problem but at least I got a reminder that worrying blows. Thanks. You're indeed that kind of doctor. I owe you one."

"No, I'm really not that kind of doctor."

At least Tony was smiling now and trying to poke the Cloak of Levitation to get a rise out of her so he considered that a win.

* * *

**Notes:**

-So the 24th February 2020 is Losar or Tibertan New Year so Happy New Year for anyone who celebrates it. And yes, Dalai Lama indeed has a Twitter account.  
-No, it's not meant to be a blame Tony fic. Steve Rogers had said he had mentioned his faults as well in "You're Meant to be the Best of Us". Anyway, this fic focuses more on friendship and hurt/comfort physically or emotionally. It's the first time I wrote something like six (or five or four) times.. and one time... (because the muse wouldn't let me sleep otherwise. As if I need more work in progress *facepalm*)


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